Final Frontiers

Titus' head throbbed as the ceiling lamp's bright rays assaulted his unfocused eyes, so he closed them so they could acclimate to the lighting through his eyelids. It hurt to breath. Where am I? The low wood ceiling is a good indicator I'm not on the ship anymore. Someone had gotten him out of the ship, that much was evident. Titus brought his left arm up to check the data screen built into his sleeve, making sure to block the obnoxious lamp before opening his eyes. The screen came to life at the motion, alerts popping up as little boxes provided diagnosis and medical advice. Two broken ribs, a mild concussion, and a neck sprain - painful, but I'll live. This wasn't the worst crash I've been in. About to let the arm flop back to the bed he realized how odd it was that he was still in his suit and helmet. Did whoever pulled me from the ship not know how to get the gear off?

The sprained neck sent its complaints to his brain in spikes as Titus slowly turned his head, taking in the room until he finally saw the creature partially sprawled on the bed with its head in his hand, sound asleep. He didn't feel threatened by its presence, in fact it reminded him of a dog that would do the same thing when he was sleeping or relaxing. Of course, the dog isn't a pastel color or sporting a horn in the middle of its forehead. Maybe the person I heard talking to me is the owner. As the human slowly extricated his arm, careful not to wake the creature, he noticed it was shivering. He hadn't felt the cold, his suit was capable of regulating temperature to whatever the wearer felt was comfortable. Upon closer inspection of the shivering creature, the long hair was still damp and clinging to the body.

His arm now free, Titus was able to push himself up, hissing through clenched teeth, and took a few painful breaths while he looked around the room. It wasn't a large, but it had a rustic feel and enough space to comfortably fit what people would consider necessities; bed, chest of drawers, closet, mirror, and a chair. All the furniture seemed small, though. From across the room he identified his holster as it lay on top of the chest of drawers and an old style glass bottle on the nightstand had also caught his attention. The bottle was closer at this point, and he was parched.

Titus reached over and plucked the bottle up, turning it over in his hand to read the label. Never heard of Sweet Apple Acres brand before. He eyed the amber liquid, sloshing the contents in the bottle gently. Placing his gloved thumb over the opening, he upturned the bottle, allowing his suit to get a sample of the fluid for analysis from the sensor in his glove. The reading came back and was displayed on his visor: both the cider and the dried saliva on the bottle were safe. With his free hand, Titus popped the seal on his helmet so he could take a drink, laying the helmet on the bed beside him. It was the best drink he had ever had; the apple flavor was crisp and had no hint of the usual artificial flavors or preservatives in other brands. Before he realized it he had emptied the bottle.

Refreshed, Titus swung his legs over the far side of the bed, which placed his back to the door. Not in any need of a blanket, he leaned back and gently wrapped the blanket around the creature that had shared the bed. No reason you have to be cold, friend. Sitting back up, he leveraged himself to his feet with the aid of the nightstand.

"Thou hath shown that kindness is a universal language. We-"

A voice came from the door behind Titus, who grabbed the helmet and tried to turn rapidly at the sudden appearance of someone else in the room. How did I fail to sense-? Unfortunately his body had other ideas on how fast he should move and he found himself leaning with his back against the wall, his arm gripping at his ribs. What he saw standing in the doorway was distinctly not human. It was a creature similar to the one on the bed, though this one was larger in size, its coat was deep blue, it had wings tucked at its sides, and the hair flowing down its back was quite literally flowing. The horn was longer and looked significantly sharper, as well. He put his helmet back on with his free hand, the visor displaying readings on the creatures before him.

"Forgive us, it was not our intention to startle thy so," it eloquently said as three more appeared behind it, crowding up to get a look into the room at the commotion. The sudden movement had also woken the one on the bed. It stretched, yawned, and rubbed its eyes; the blanket slipped from its shoulders and slid to the floor.

Titus was feeling outnumbered and cornered. One exit and not a lot of cover between you and your pistol, the survivalist voice in his head said, assessing the situation.

Princess Luna was uncertain what to do to calm the obviously startled creature. Glancing around it didn't look like any other pony would know what to do, either. She had seen the cut on his forehead and the hair matted with blood, which meant he was hurt, too. Oh, dearest sister, why did you ask me to handle this? What is it you want me to learn? We tried our best to avoid using the Royal Voice, perhaps it is our stature that he finds intimidating?

The Princess attempted to look smaller and less threatening by lowering her head submissively.

The blue one must have caught you glancing at the chest of drawers, the voice frantically told him, it gave the other creatures a look before lowering its head and now it looks like it wants to gore you!

He's even more tense now! I’ll have to restrain him if he makes any sudden movements. Luna prepared the spell in the back of her mind, a faint glow emanating from her horn.

You've still got your 'saber... The human lowered his center of gravity, every muscle tensed and burning in anticipation, ready to dodge out of the way and deliver a counterattack should it charge him. A patch of the tetrahedrons of his suit in the small of his back parted, partially revealing the hidden cylinder of silver and black.

"WAIT!"

Huh? I've heard that voice before... The voice was oddly familiar to the human. A lesson from his Master threw itself to the forefront of his memory, Master had said "Nothing is exactly as it seems, nor is it otherwise. Center yourself and your path will be revealed." Titus took a deep breath and let himself relax, Let go of your emotions and *focus*...

"Everypony just back up!" the small violet one that had just been asleep instructed the others, its back turned as it waved its forelegs in a shooing motion, "Excuse me, Princess, but that means you too." It ushered the other creatures out of the room, turning back toward Titus once it had gotten through the door. "Is that better?" it asked slowly.

Five pairs of eyes were locked on the human.

He nodded slowly. The orange, yellow, and cyan creatures whispered excitedly. Titus focused on their whispers and sensed their feelings: general surprise, concern, and distrust – nothing openly threatening or revealing. They were quickly silenced with a wave of a foreleg as the violet one spoke again.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle. W-we don’t want to hurt you."

"Where am I?" Titus replied.

Twilight's eyes went wide, "You can talk?! Who are you?" There were a thousand and one questions flying through Twilight’s mind at the moment and she had a hard time restraining the urge to blurt them all out this very instant.

I can sense the blue one is... strong. Is she a Master? Titus hesitated before responding, "My name is Titus." He had encountered alien life forms before, but nothing like these. Judging from this one's reaction they've never dealt with alien species before. I need to be careful how I proceed.

"Tie...tus?" Twilight asked, struggling to get her tongue around the odd name. "Sorry if I said it wrong," she said with a smile of slightly worried sincerity, “I've never heard a name like that. What... are you?”

"I’m a human,” he replied, and then the apology completed a circuit in Titus's mind. "Were you the one talking to me while I was lying here?" the human asked, indicating toward the bed.

Twilight nodded, "You could hear me?" She hesitated for a moment, trying to think of what to say next. At that point she saw him holding his side, “Are you in pain? Is there something you need?”

“I'll be sore for a while, but I'll live. What I need is to know where I am.”

They had gotten nowhere in their attempted talks about where the biped was - Equestria was as alien to the human as the concept of "star systems" was to the ponies. It had taken a bit of work, but Twilight had managed to convince the human to come out into the living room so they could all sit down and talk.

Titus reached for the holster as he was walking past the chest of drawers- “Hold, human,” a voice rang in his head. He stopped mid-reach; his brow furrowed as he shook his head to dislodge the odd feeling, “We wish thou no ill will, only understanding.” The dark blue creature, a Princess according to the Twilight creature, was looking at him through the door. Was it the Princess who was communicating with him?

“Thou art not mistaken, ’twas we. Thou hath no need of thy weapon,” the voice came again as she nodded to him, “neither of them.”

She knows about... Titus was hesitant but left the pistol on the chest of drawers and placed the hilt of his lightsaber beside it. They had ample time to do harm, had they wanted to. He slowly removed the helmet as a show of additional good faith, tucking it under his arm. Stepping into the living room, having to duck slightly so his head wouldn't hit the top of the door frame, the human took in his surroundings: a comfortable-looking couch faced a padded armchair that had an end table next to it sat at the center of the room, a fireplace was tucked into the wall. There was also a desk and chair tucked into one corner. Two doors, not counting the one he had come through, lay on opposite walls. The farther door at the far end looked to lead to the center of the house, a staircase and book shelves visible from where the human was standing, while the closer had tile floors and cupboards; Titus deduced it was a kitchen.

As the human looked about, Twilight took the chance to observe the creature in front of her. It was tall with broad shoulders and showed a preference to walking around on its two hind legs. At the end of its thick forelegs were a set of five claws or talons of some sort. She'd have to make further observations if the human took its gloves off. Now that it was confirmed that the scaly skin was a protective suit and the thing it was carrying was a helmet, the unicorn could examine its facial features.

The face was much flatter than a pony's, the nose hardly sticking out more than an inch, and was mostly devoid of fur, the visible hair being a dark brown mane on top of its head that hung down to his shoulders - except where it was matted with what she assumed was blood, if the cut on the forehead was anything to go by. The eyes were also much smaller, but that didn't appear to affect its visual acuity as the almost chocolate-colored eyes scanned the room. The jaw was square-ish, and she also caught sight of a set of incisor and canine teeth toward the front of its mouth when it had grimaced while holding its side earlier; Twilight made a mental note to inquire about diet when she had the chance. Gender-wise it was a tossup – while the suit it was wearing was slightly form-fitting, it didn't provide enough *ahem* definition for visual confirmation, and even then this species could be genderless for all she knew. Everything regarding human – Humans? Humani? another point to clarify, – was a new scientific discovery. At this point Twilight noticed the biped was staring at her, "Please, make yourself comfortable," she indicated toward the furniture.

Titus strode to the desk and turned the chair to face the couch and armchair, folded at the waist and knees, and slowly lowered himself into the chair - the fluidity of movement the lanky human displayed was quite impressive to the ponies - he had selected the desk chair because it offered the best view of the room and placed a wall at his back.

The orange one in the hat carefully inched closer to him, a white box with a red cross on it in her mouth. I think it wants me to take it. Titus slowly extended his hand, palm up, the creature placing the box lightly in his grip. He unfastened the latch, An old-fashioned first aid kit? "Thank you," he said.

"Yer welcome. I'm Applejack," Applejack replied with a tip of her hat, watching the human take out a length of bandage, a cotton swab, and the antiseptic with those stubby little appendages. She joined her friends who had found places to sit on or near the couch.

A long silence hung in the air, each party waiting for the other to say something.

Finally Twilight spoke up, "I should probably introduce you to everypony else, shouldn't I? Um, I've introduced myself already but I'm Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn and local librarian." Twilight hopped down from the couch and went around the circle introducing the ponies and dragon; each giving a form of greeting that garnered a nod from the human. Hopping back up on the couch, Twilight proceeded to explain the events up until the human had regained consciousness “…and here we are,” she finished with a shrug of her shoulders.

Titus massaged the bridge of his nose with two fingers. Ponies? Dragons? Magical portals? All of this information, along with the concussion, was giving him a headache. “You’ll have to forgive me; this is proving hard to process.”

“We imagine thou hath many questions, human.”

There was one that popped to the front of his mind, “Can you reopen the portal?”

Twilight shuffled her hooves, “I don’t know. I’d have to review my data and do some research.”

“In that case, I’d like to return to my ship-“ Titus pushed himself to his feet with a bit of effort, “my sensor equipment might have additional data for you...” he was suddenly quite dizzy, causing him to brace himself against the wall with one hand.

“We doth nay think thou should travel this night,” Princess Luna voiced, “especially in thy condition and through the Everfree Forest at night.”

“The sooner I get my ship repaired-“

“On the marrow thou may return to thine vessel. Tonight thou will stay here and rest.”

The look on the Princess’ face told Titus that the last sentence was less of a request and more of a Royal Command. As much as he needed to get his ship back up and running, arguing about it right now would only increase tensions and potentially delay him further. “Very well, Highness,” he said, bowing his head slightly.

“Twilight, before we depart, we doth require use of thy balcony,” Luna hopped out of the armchair, turning to the human “If thou would accompany us, Titus, we would like a word alone.”

The two went up to the balcony at the top of the house, neither of them speaking a word. Reaching the perch, the Princess moved to the railing, “If thou would close the door, we will begin,” Princess Luna instructed, spreading her wings and leaping into the air. She hovered there for a moment, completely motionless, before her horn began to glow.

Titus closed the door and returned his gaze to Princess Luna, who had begun to raise the front hooves she had stretched out beside her above her head. Dumbfounded, the human watched as the moon mirrored the motion of her hooves, ascending until the Princess was centered on the orb in the sky, her figure silhouetted in the moon's pale glow. That probably would have taken the whole Council and everyone in the Temple to do that, if they were even capable of such a feat in the first place!

Her task complete, Luna glided down and landed on the balcony gracefully. She turned toward her audience. "Have you never seen the moon raised?" the Princess asked, dropping her formal decorum.

Rubbing his face as he tried to process what he had just witnessed, Titus responded "No, Your Highness. Not in that manner, anyway. Where I'm from it-" he didn't want to imply it wasn't natural for the moon to be raised in such a manner by saying "it rises naturally." It was probably in his best interest not to offend a creature that can hurl planetoids around, “-it’s different.”

"Even with so many differences, there are still similarities, are there not?" she posed another question, to which he just nodded. "You were a peacekeeper: it was your duty to protect those that could not protect themselves. As a Princess and co-ruler of Equestria, I have a comparable duty to my subjects," she had started moving toward Titus as she spoke, "and just as you dealt with threats to your people, so shall I. Sit," she commanded, indicating a small bench next to the door, "for I wish to look into your eyes for the truth as you answer these next questions."

Titus nodded and sat down, putting his eyes on level with the Princess' own. She was incredibly close; he could feel the breath from her words on his face.

She didn't break eye contact as she began her questioning. "Is there another agenda behind your appearance in Equestria?"

"No," he returned her stare.

"Do you pose a threat to our subjects?"

"No," it felt like he was falling into those large cerulean eyes of hers, but he kept himself from blinking.

"What will you do if the portal can't be reopened?"

"I... don’t know," stars were flying past him as his vision was enveloped.

"What is it like; waking up on an alien world and knowing that its inhabitants will always look at you in a particular way, no matter how long you are here?"

"Uh," the complexity of the last question snapped his concentration and he blinked. He closed his eyes for a minute, waiting for the stars in his eyes to disappear, "I'm sorry Princess, the depth of that last question caught me off guard-" he opened his eyes to try again.

The Princess' head was cocked to one side, a searching expression on her face and when Titus gave her a confused look she spoke, "I'm sorry, the last was more out of personal curiosity, and the other questions were but a formality. I already know you have a good heart, Titus; I saw it in action in your dreams and nightmares while you were unconscious. I have a feeling my presence did not go unnoticed, as it usually does."

"You? You were what kept appearing in my peripheral vision?" By this point Titus was hunched over - his elbows on his knees - staring at his feet. She was in your mind?

"I saw everything - from the day your Master took you into her tutelage to the moment the command was given to eradicate your Order, and I've seen what you've had to do to survive the Chancellor's Purge," the Princess' voice was somber as she spoke, her head and shoulders slumping, "What I witnessed will remain in confidence and I leave what you will share up to you. I apologize for intruding on what should have been your most private of retreats but I hope you'll understand why I had to. "

Titus was almost mad at her for violating his privacy, seemingly probing every dark corner and digging up every memory he had wanted buried or left alone, but at the same time he had to agree it must have been the optimal strategy at the time to evaluate if he had been a threat or not. "I understand, Your Highness. You did what you had to for your people and I can't be mad at you for that," he finally responded, still hunched over his knees thinking.

Luna broke the stillness, moving back a few steps. Once again silhouetted by moon she addressed him with her formal decorum, her wings spread to add emphasize her decree, "On behalf of the Crown and with the power vested in us, we hereby officially extend the royal welcome to thou, Titus Marius Aelius, to Equestria. We doth declare thou a guest of the Crown for the duration of thy stay.”

Luna moved to join Titus on the bench, the human scooting over slightly to give her more room. "She..." the Princess looked away momentarily as she carefully constructed her thought, turning back when she was ready, "What I saw of your Master - she reminds me of my sister, I wish pass on my condolences."

The human bowed his head in thanks, "You must have a wonderful sister, then."

Nothing else was said for quite a while. Both she and the human sat shoulder to shoulder to watch the night sky, crowded together on a bench too small for the both of them. Eventually Luna extricated herself with a sigh, "As much as I don't want to, I must be going. There is still much I'd like to discuss, Titus, perhaps we can meet again under less formal circumstances?"

"Yes, I think I'd like that."

With nothing else to say Luna made her way downstairs, the human wordlessly following.

Twilight watched as the two headed up to the balcony. When they disappeared behind the door she trotted over to the desk to examine the helmet the human had left behind.

“You going to be okay, egghead?” Dash asked, flying over to the unicorn’s side.

Twilight levitated the helmet, looking at it from every angle, “What do you mean?”

Applejack apparently had the same thought as Rainbow, “Far as the Princess' concerned, the human’s gonna be stayin’ here t’night.”

“Mhm” Twilight was too engrossed in her study of the alien object to pay attention to what her friends were saying. I can almost read some of the display on the visor-

“It has fangs, Twilight!” Rainbow exclaimed, gnashing her teeth for emphasis, “What if the human tries to eat you in your sleep?”

“Eat me in my sleep?” Twilight snapped back to reality with the last part of Rainbow’s sentence, the helmet dropping to the floor and rolling under the desk.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy’s eyes went wide.

Applejack cut that off at the pass, “Whoa there, Rainbow. No pony is getting’ eaten.” She shot a questioning look at Dash, “What makes you think Titus is even interested in, uh, meat?”

Dash explained her reasoning, “Well, Titus is obviously a carnival-“

“Carnivore,” Twilight corrected, fishing the headgear from under the desk.

“-yeah that. The fangs are the giveaway,” –Rainbow pulled her lip down to show her teeth– “on top of that, the claws or talons hidden in the gloves.” Tapping a hoof to her chin, she went on, “Now that I’m thinking on it, the eyes are facing forward like a griffon, so that’s another point in my favor.” Fluttershy was nodding in agreement with Rainbow's observations.

“I noticed the rows of incisors and canines as well,” Twilight agreed, mimicking Dash’s pose unintentionally.

“I bet those hind legs give the human a long stride so it can get up to some serious speed to chase prey, though I imagine it’s pretty top-heavy so a pony could beat it in cornering…” the pegasus drifted off, her thought lost, and was now contemplating how a human would stack up in a race.

“Y’all saw, Titus was scared of us,” Applejack said, crossing her forelegs in frustration, “Ah don't want another Zecora incident, so I reckon we oughta not go judgin’ 'fore we get ta know h-“ AJ looked thoughtful for a moment, “Uh, just ta clarify, but anypony know if we're dealin’ with mare or a stallion here? Ah don’t feel right calling Titus an ‘it’ and ‘the human’ all the time.“

Dash and Twilight both shrugged.

“Um, it’s-” Fluttershy fidgeted when her voice drew the attention of everypony else, “-it’s hard to tell, but I think stallion. That's just my opinion though,I'm probably wrong,” she finished, shrinking back.

Applejack threw her hooves up in the air, “Ah don’t believe-” the sound of a door upstairs opening caught all of their attention. “Shucks, I’ll just go ask,” she started for the door to the main room.

“Don’t do that! It might be a touchy subject,” Twilight hissed, pulling the earth pony back, “What if asking insults her? Him?”

"Him, to answer your question."

They all collectively jumped having not heard the human reach the bottom of the stairs. Princess Luna stood behind him, and Twilight could swear she heard a giggle.

The human let out a sigh, “If you ladies don’t mind, I’m going to call it a night,” he said as he slowly walked to the guestroom, “I’d like to leave as early as possible in the morning.” Getting no objection to that statement, he bid them goodnight and retreated behind the guestroom door.

Rainbow insisted on staying the night to make sure the Twilight didn't get eaten.